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Thursday, February 28, 2008

The Winter that Won't End

It's the end of February - where has time gone? We got yet another snowstorm dumping six inches on our little part of the world. The snow was so heavy, it was really hard to move. As you can see, everyone is getting tired of winter - even the sign up the road is leaning with the weight of all the snow.

Evidently it's a record for the most moisture in a February. Normally, our neighbors would be sugaring by now but the bitter cold seems to be here for at least a few more days.

When the sun finally came out the other day, the trees looked like they were covered with cotton balls. Against the blue sky it was pretty breath-taking.

The lambs are really growing quickly. Easter is early this year (March 23rd) and so we are preparing to sell the ones which are the right size at the livestock auction over the next few weeks. There will be buyers from different states in the Northeast who will truck them to slaughter houses with standing orders. We never know where they end up but we know someone will be enjoying them for Easter dinner.

Many of our neighbors are getting low on their hay supplies. Luckily, The Farmer put up quite a bit of hay last season and it is still waiting in the fields to be fed to the sheep. Picking the bales out of the field is tricky though since the snow is so deep. It is hard to get the tractor to the bales safely. I think The Farmer is getting a bit weary of the winter snows - it just makes everything more difficult - feeding hay and grain, watering the sheep, and spreading bedding to try to keep the sheep comfortably housed. He's ready for spring!

5 comments:

I'm in love with the romance of your way of life, so even getting weary of winter sounds oh so lovely - like spring is right around the corner. I know that isn't the truth of it, but what can I say? I live in the city. I'm not sure if I've commented before, but I adore your blog.

I'm still managing to enjoy it all. We've got 28" at our house and over 40" at my Mother's in NH. Of course, I don't have to manage livestock--just children--although I'm about to do a history workshop using gravestones and need one particular stone. I think I'll need snowshoes and a shovel to get the photo!

I"m off to check the weather. I missed the news about another storm...

We seem to be drowning in white stuff, too. Mom pays someone to plow her driveway if it gets to 4" or more... and this year has been quite pricey.

The birds and squirrels are mating or trying to find partners, in spite of the piles of snow. Yesterday and today we've had squirrels in the attic running around chasing one another, and chirruping.

We have never had more than one squirrel before... are hoping we can scare them out before we get a nest of babies. We growl and they calm down for a while, it's entertaining but pathetic. They are probably going to win.

I think we're not in charge of nature. Here's to the dream of green grass and early violets!

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